Move with intention

However you move your body. Move it with intention. If we can find some peace in ourselves, we better find peace in turbulent times, using movement as medicine to get us through the day. 

Movement has always been my form of meditation and a way of unpacking my body, and for me my yoga is my all-time companion to balance and has been one of my greatest teachers, showing me where I am each day and helping to calm me mentally and physically.

For all the change and discomfort I encountered since I was very young I discovered how essential moving my body was to my daily life because moving my body helped me release the compression I was feeling on the inside, from binding things up, the things that were going on inside my head, and in my heart… all the emotional side of things, which has always manifested as both anxiety and sadness for me. 

Therefore, I have truly grown up allowing myself the space to make moving my body a priority, purposefully reshaping and navigating my every-day to make it accessible within my routine, my mental state has always been connected to my physical activity – if I don’t get that workout in I simply don’t feel as resilient to step into my day.

Movement coupled with intention can facilitate subtle changes to recalibrate and help shift and release some of the weight we carry inside of ourselves though the physical body.

I have come to understand that we can’t work out whatever our challenges in life are in our minds alone, and when we choose to push pause and find stillness within change, to move with intension, and to be with life exactly as it is right now, we then courageously work though our challenges, especially those ‘things’ that pertains to everyday, rather than run away from them. 

Moving with greater presence; to see, observe and accept what thoughts and feelings rise up from the inside so we open up the opportunity to unpack some of the parts of ourselves to bring lightness.

The aim is to not push it down, which so many of us do, pull it up so you can begin to move it out, and then pull in the thing that you need, making your practice become one of your greatest teachers, a gateway for learning more about yourself. You can’t control everything in life, but you can choose how it lives inside of you, it is deep work sometimes, I love this quote - “you are allowed to be a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously”  that its okay to not always be okay… we can’t predict any outcomes or control much of anything in life, but incorporating mindful movement into your routine can help create more calm both mentally and physically, especially when tense, tight, tired, and/or burnt out. We all need to find the tools we need to bring us back to centre, and to help us feel good inside and out. 

So, However you move your body. Move it with intention. If we can find some peace in ourselves, we better find peace in turbulent times, using movement as medicine to get us through the day. 

To learn more about mindful movement, this is a great read by Kelly McGonigal… Click here for the The Joy of Movement.

-Kate Lillian Burford -